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Simon Clarke (Israel-Premier Tech) went agonisingly close to completing a rare feat, a stage win in each of the Grand Tours, during stage 6 of the Giro d’Italia where he was caught just before the finish by the peloton.
Breakaway companions Clarke and Alessandro De Marchi (Jayco-AlUla) made for a disconsolate pair crossing the finish line on stage 6 of the Giro d’Italia arm-in-arm. Former teammates way back to 2009, they were racing against each other to win the stage, but also to hold off the peloton to contest the honours on the day.
Originally part of the day’s five-man breakaway, they dropped their companions inside the final 70 kilometres and somehow managed to maintain a two-minute advantage for the final 90 minutes. A 30-second gap with three kilometers to go gave hope, that was reduced to 13 seconds with a kilometre remaining and ultimately, it wasn’t enough.
De Marchi refused to come through with 900 metres left to ride, to save his sprint against Clarke, renowned for coming out on top in similar situations from breakaways over the years. Maybe that was the difference that cost the duo, as the peloton came rampaging past with 200 metres left to race, Mads Pedersen mopping up the sprint victory.
“I dreamt of this victory for many years now,” said Clarke. “I’ve been second, third, and fourth in a stage and it would have been amazing to add a stage victory as well but it wasn’t to be today.
“We just gave it everything. We needed 10 more seconds and that was it. We gave it everything. We actually got further than we maybe should have. Alessandro was really strong, and I tried to go turn for turn with him all the way to the finish. We put up a good fight but we were just a few hundred metres short.”
">May 11, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="" charset="utf-8"></script><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">This is a brutal sport. <br><br>—<br>🇮🇹 Giro <a href="">pic.twitter.com/E9Cb3JaPtu</a></p>— Israel – Premier Tech (@IsraelPremTech) <a href="
">May 11, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="" charset="utf-8"></script>
Clarke refused to blame de Marchi for baulking in the final kilometre, recognising the effort that the Italian had made to bring them that close to the line.
“I tried to pull as long as I could and I know Alessandro didn’t come through on the last kilometre but that’s the game we play and I have to say thanks to him because without him I wouldn’t even have arrived this close to a stage victory,” said Clarke. “We know each other very well. I know how strong he is and once I was in the breakaway with him today, I knew that we could give it a big crack at staying away.”
Watch the full replay on SBS On Demand
Clarke devastated as Pedersen prevails on Stage 6 in Naples
Watch Stage 7 of the Giro d'Italia LIVE tonight via SBS On Demand from 7:05pm (AEST), with coverage on SBS VICELAND commencing at 8:30pm (AEST).
